Tag: Gettysburg

Hello, Bobby, and thanks for being with us at “Advice for Everyone” Can you tell us what you do for a living?
Assembler at Lowes Home Improvement, easiest job I’ve ever had! Previous jobs have been: communications technician, landscaper, retail clerk, and sewing machine repair tech.

How old are you and where do you live?
I’m 61 – June, 1956, and live in Cleveland, North Carolina.

Most interesting place you’ve visited?
Hard to pin down one place. Gettysburg battlefield, ANY clean beach, Smoky Mountain Knife Works…

Somebody’s going to visit Gettysburg for the first time. How should they prepare for their experience and make the most of the time there?
This one’s a toughie…for me, Gettysburg was a deeply spiritual experience. I went with a friend between jobs when I was on the road and only had a couple of hours, was thinking to just breeze through it and move on. However as soon as my feet hit the ground and walked around some I began to experience what Lincoln referenced in his Gettysburg address – this place is Holy – “…it has been consecrated far beyond our ability to add or detract…”
Also, a lot of members of our family are somewhat… sensitive. As I moved around I had the feeling of being watched, and not by the people around me. I got the sense that the dead who remain there were watching, that I was personally being watched, not with hostility but…well, with interest. I can’t describe it. I would say read up on the battle before you go and prepare yourself mentally and spiritually because Gettysburg strikes everyone differently.

Pet peeve?
People talking ABOUT others rather than TO others! If I have a problem with Henry, what good does it so me to talk to Bernie, Ted, and Alice. Henry’s the only one that can help me solve my problem with him, isn’t he???

Very true. Favorite book, or movie, or television show?
Book – “Lord of the Rings.” Movie – “Secondhand Lions”. TV show – don’t really have one. “Forged in Fire,” any UNC B-ball game…

What’s the appeal of “Secondhand Lions?”
1) It has a GREAT cast with Michael Caine as Garth, Robert Duvall as Hub, and Haley Joel Osment as Walter. 2) It deals with issues that are personal to me; adapting to a world where you don’t seem to fit, and adjusting from living in a world your mind wants you to have, to living in a world your body says you can have: managing a life where you (the teenager) are the adult and your parent clearly is not: and finding relevance for your life in a world that seems to be telling you that everything you believe in no longer matters. These are issues that everyone faces sooner or later but this movie does so with dignity, class, and humor. Just an all-round great movie.

If people wanted to pray for you, they could pray for…..?
A personal struggle I’m dealing with right now

Are you married? Any children or pets?
Married, two daughters, six grandchildren (four girls, two boys), one dog, Sammi

Something most people don’t know that you can do?
People that know me know most of my talents (sing, act, tell stories, artist, carver) but most don’t know that I have memorized several poems and spoonerisms.

Can you give us a few spoonerisms?
To “give” a few spoonerisms I’d have to video me doing one or two. It’s just words twisted around – Archie Campbell used to do it on “Hee Haw” – and it’s appeal depends largely on the storyteller. “Once upon a time, in a corin funtry, there lived a geautiful birl named Rindercella…” reads differently than me telling you the same thing. If you want to record “Rindercella” or “The Chris before Nightmare” you’ll need to let me know.

Thanks! Think about recording a few and put them on YouTube. If you had any spare time, what would you do with it?
Do more carving to build stock so I can do more craft festivals.

What sort of carving do you do?
Mostly I do walking sticks, Christmas ornaments, toys…whatever I take an interest in. I do mostly custom work – you tell me three or four things that are important to you and I incorporate them on a stick, each one’s different. My favorite stick is the one I just finished, and there aren’t many around the house because I do them for people and sell or give them away. Actually, it’s turned into a ministry for me – every stick has a cross on it somewhere the owner will see it. It’s a promise that God watches us, doesn’t slumber, and will never let us go. When I go to a festival, I never seem to sell ANY until I give a few away…

Tell us some interesting things about yourself that aren’t already covered?
When I was younger I used to catch snakes, venomous and non-venomous, for extra spending money. Once auditioned for National Shakespeare Conservatory. (Yes, I was accepted but couldn’t attend.) Other stuff, but modesty forbids….

Thanks much! Can I ask you to offer some advice to snake catchers?
This is a skill that you develop with time, but I’d say don’t go into it lightly. Snakes, like any animal, pick up on their surroundings, including you if you’re near them. Imagine that you’re at home or at work and someone comes along, takes the roof off of your house, reaches in to try and grab you, catches you, holds you up and says “look, isn’t he/she pretty” and then puts you in a cage or a big bucket. They don’t like it when we invade their privacy, don’t understand what’s happening, and act accordingly. Treat them gently, don’t hurt them, and place them back where they were…it’s better for them and probably better for you if you don’t want to get bit.

Bobby, thanks much for letting us get to know you a little bit. Prayers with the personal struggle, and hope the carving and other interests go well. God bless.